Bites and itching
Mostly liquid, which is what makes it a packing problem
Repellent is the classic casualty of the cabin liquid rule: a full bottle bought the day before, surrendered at the scanner. This module is about carrying enough to matter without carrying a bottle you cannot take through.
What belongs in this module
The seasons pages on this site already say what to look for in a repellent, and this is the same advice rather than a second version of it.
- Insect repellent — look for DEET or picaridin on the label, and long sleeves for dusk, which is when the ones that matter are out
- Something for the bites you get anyway, which a pharmacist will pick for the people travelling
- A bed net if you are going somewhere that calls for one, which is a question for your doctor rather than for us
- Permethrin-treated clothing, if you are the kind of traveller who plans that far ahead
How to pack it
Decide before the airport whether this module is going in the cabin or the hold, because the answer changes what you buy.
- Buy a small bottle rather than decanting a big one — an unlabelled decant is the version security queries.
- Aerosols are restricted well beyond the liquid rule, and some airlines refuse them outright. A pump or a lotion avoids the whole conversation.
- Repellent goes in a sealed bag whatever bag it rides in. It attacks some plastics and finishes sunglasses lenses.
- Wipes are the cabin-friendly version and the one to carry for the journey itself.
At the airport
Repellent is a liquid and lives in the transparent bag, under the usual container limit. Aerosol cans are the ones to check individually — the limits are stricter, and they differ between airlines as well as between countries.
Buying it there instead
Varies more than people expect. Somewhere with mosquitoes generally sells good repellent, often better suited to the local insects than what you brought. Somewhere without them sells nothing at all in March.
Worth knowing
- Repellent and sun protection are applied in a fixed order, and the leaflets say which — worth reading once rather than guessing.
- The strength that suits an adult is not automatically the one for a small child; the label states the ages it is meant for.
- A treated bed net is bulky and often provided where it is expected — worth checking with the accommodation before carrying one across the world.
packset.travel is an independent trip-planning tool, not a pharmacy or a medical service. This page is about packing — what form things travel in, which bag they belong in and what paperwork crosses a border. What actually goes in each slot is a question for your pharmacist or doctor, and the official sources linked here have the last word.
Questions about this module
Less than a full bottle for one person, more than a travel-size for two. The practical answer is one small bottle in the cabin bag and buying the second one there, where it will be cheaper and often better matched to the local insects.
Sometimes, under tighter limits than the ordinary liquid rule, and subject to the airline as well as the airport. Since a pump bottle does the same job with none of the uncertainty, it is the version worth buying.
No. Where you are going may call for medical precautions we are in no position to discuss, and your doctor or a travel clinic is the place for that. This page is only about what fits in the bag.
packset.travel is an independent trip-planning tool, not a pharmacy or a medical service. This page is about packing — what form things travel in, which bag they belong in and what paperwork crosses a border. What actually goes in each slot is a question for your pharmacist or doctor, and the official sources linked here have the last word.
Our planner puts the health pack next to everything else you are carrying, with a weight for the whole bag rather than a list you have to add up yourself.